Manufacturer of Optical Wireless Systems Gears Up for Full-Scale Production

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada - November 20, 2000 - fSONA Communications Corporation, a manufacturer of broadband optical wireless communications systems, announces it has closed US$18.4 million, to fund expansion of commercial production facilities at its Richmond, BC, plant, as well as to continue development of next generation products with its Research and Development team based in Manhattan Beach, CA.

"We're pleased to announce the addition of several new investors as well as continued financial support from previous investors," said Theresa Carbonneau, president and chief executive officer of fSONA. "This latest round of funding assures we will meet our target of full commercial production during the first quarter next year."

Along with the continued support of the major current investors: Royal Bank Ventures, Working Opportunity Fund and High Street Partners, this round included new investors: Signal Lake Ventures Fund II, The Photonics Fund, Equitek Capital, Network Capital and other industry related parties.

The company's SONAbeam™ systems carry high volumes of digital information (voice, data and video) between transceiver terminals at transmission speeds between 125 megabits and 1.25 gigabits per second and spanning distances of up to 4 kilometers. All signals are transmitted at the 1550nm wavelength, which not only provides superior eye safe properties, but is also fully compatible with the new fiber optic networking equipment standards.

fSONA's systems can be installed and operational within 24 hours and are considerably less expensive than comparable bandwidth hard-wired or radio-frequency (RF) alternatives. fSONA will deliver a full range of commercial systems by the end of the third quarter next year.

The systems are aimed at meeting the rising global demand for inexpensive Internet connections and enterprise-level corporate LAN extensions, where wire-line technology is either unavailable or too costly to install. Currently, more than 97 percent of all office buildings in the U.S. are without broadband connections, either as a result of the high cost of installation or the impracticality of fiber optic cabling.

fSONA has positioned itself at the forefront of the Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC) industry, an industry that analysts such as the Strategis Group have predicted could exceed $2 billion globally, by 2005.

About fSONA
fSONA Systems is recognized as the preferred provider of optical wireless solutions for government, enterprise and service provider markets around the globe. Leveraging leading edge advancements in 1550nm optical transmission, the SONAbeam™ family of systems, based on free-space-optics (FSO), use a globally unlicensed, wireless technology to provide speeds up to 2.5 Gbps over distances up to 7km. For more information visit www.fsona.com or www.free-space-optics.org

Further Information
For more information about fSONA, SONAbeam or Free-Space Optical Wireless, please contact:

604-273-6333
media@fsona.com

fSONA and SONAbeam® are trademarks of fSONA Networks. All other trademarks are properties of their respective companies.